Milwaukee: Nutrition & Wellness Class

A class for individuals with Down syndrome and other special needs on healthy living and wellness.

WHAT: DSAW-Family Services is offering a course focused on teaching individuals with Down syndrome and other special needs about the importance of healthy living and wellness, including exercise, nutrition, and independent cooking. DSAW-Family Services has created an innovative curriculum geared towards individuals ages 18 to 30.

The learning goals of the course are:

Create a firm awareness for the importance of integrating exercise into daily life

Build a foundation of healthy nutrition and help individuals understand what to eat, portion size, how to make choices at restaurants, and about emotional/obsessive eating habits

Learn to cook healthy food independently

Learn to eat food with appropriate social manners

Understand the consequences of poor nutrition and lack of exercise on health and wellness

In order to achieve these learning goals, the course will incorporate a variety of hands-on learning techniques. Each four-hour session will include one hour of fitness, two hours of cooking, and one hour of learning activities, discussion, and debrief. We will bring in dieticians and nutritionists to assist with the healthy eating and portion control sections of the course. To help participants reach their goals outside of class, we will also incorporate a variety of tools, such as the Weight Watchers “points” system, Fitbits / other tracking devices to track activity, and a group messaging app to help participants hold each other accountable and encourage each other during the week. These tools will also allow parents or other caregivers to participate in the curriculum outside of class.

WHEN: Mondays and Wednesdays from 8:30am - 12:30pm. The fall session will run from September 10, 2018 until December 19, 2018. There will be no classes the week of Thanksgiving.

WHERE: There will be two sessions, both running the same dates and times.